Bowes
About
Governor Petillius Cerialis's invasion of the Pennines brought a wooden-ramparted fort to this bleak stretch of upland in the early 70s CE. Timber defenses held through Trajan's reign before builders finally raised stone walls in the 130s, under Hadrian. Both the fort and its attached civilian settlement stayed occupied until at least the late fourth century. A Norman keep, Bowes Castle, was later built squarely inside the old Roman perimeter, reusing its commanding position over the road to Carlisle.
What happened here
Five hundred men, sometimes a thousand, recruited from a province rather than from citizens, and often stationed a long way from where they were raised. Cavalry units get a bigger fort and far more stabling; the smell tells you which kind you are in before the plan does. The layout copies a legionary fortress at a quarter of the size — headquarters, commander's house, granaries, barracks, a bath house usually built outside the walls because of the fire risk. Duties are patrolling, escorting, customs, and policing rather than pitched battle. After twenty-five years a man is discharged with citizenship for himself and his children, recorded on a bronze diploma he keeps for life. A village grows outside the gate within a decade.
Sources
Nearby
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